


What Went Wrong

by thebigempty (Crabby_Scott)



Series: MH Rewind AU [1]
Category: Everyman HYBRID, Marble Hornets, Slender Man Mythos, Slenderverse - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Rewind, Multi, Paranoia, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 06:06:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16258232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crabby_Scott/pseuds/thebigempty
Summary: Brian wakes up to a terrible tragedy. Seth knows something more about it, but he's not talking. All Brian wants to know is what drove Tim to this but he, Alex, and Jay may be in over their heads.(A Rewind AU of Marble Hornets. Tim wakes up in college after killing Alex and decides to stop the madness before it begins, leaving his friends to pick up the pieces.)





	What Went Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> this is an AU i've been sitting on for a while but this is all i have written. may add more to this fic, may just post drables at a later date, not sure yet
> 
> CW: DESCRIPTION OF SUICIDE

Brian woke blearily. It was still dark out and the clock blinked at him something in the early AM. He didn't see the time because he was distracted by the fact that Tim wasn't in bed next to him. That wasn't wholly unusual as Tim had even worse insomnia than he did but Brian still rolled off the bed and moved slowly into the apartment to find him.

"Tim, you alright in there?" Brian called when he saw the bathroom light from under the door. Silence answered him. "Tim?" Silence again and Brian's heart picked up. He dashed over and knocked on the door. "Hey, Tim, c'mon, what's up?"

Brian tried the knob and it was unlocked. He sucked in a breath, steeling himself as he pushed the door open.

"No."

The word came out strangled and broken as his eyes landed on the empty sleeping pill bottle and Tim laying in the tub, pale and not breathing. Brian stepped forward and stopped. Tim's wrists were pouring blood.

"No, no, no, no, no."

Brian wheeled around and ran back to the bedroom for his phone. He dialed 911 and the conversation was a blur. Paramedics arrived and Brian rode in the ambulance with Tim. In the waiting room he sent a text to the group chat Alex had set up for his movie, not that he expected anyone to be up to reply.

But Seth did (who knows what he was doing up) and he got to the hospital just as the doctor was coming to speak with Brian. Seth gripped his shoulders too tight as they received the news.

"--too late--"  
"--nothing we could do--"  
"--I'm sorry--"

Jay, Sarah, Alex, Amy, and Jessica met them outside the hospital a few moments later.

"A legal guy is gonna call in the morning," Seth filled the others in, "Since Tim's mom passed a few years ago and no one knows who his dad is they're gonna call his aunt."

"She's nice," Brian said dully, "She'll probably let me...be his technical next of kin."

"Let's get coffee," Sarah said after a beat.

Seth gives Brian a ride and they all go to the only place that serves coffee this late: the Waffle House by the highway. The employees greet them happily and one even asks where Tim is. Jay hovers back to explain while the rest go to their usual booth.

Jay sits at one end next to Alex who has Amy leaning against him. Sarah and Jessica sit close together next to Seth and Brian sits next to an open end seat that may never be filled again. The kindly older woman who is the night manager brings them a round of coffee and tells them, if they're hungry, their usuals are on the house tonight. The group politely declines and the manager nods solemnly, sparing a moment to pat Brian softly on the shoulder before she leaves them to mourn.

Later that day Tim's aunt calls Brian. He, Seth, and Jay are still up and sitting around his apartment watching horror movies they've seen a million times. She tells him she's coming down from Jersey to sign off on Tim being cremated and for all of his belongings to go to Brian.

"My husband is going to bring my son and some of his friends down for a memorial dinner tomorrow," she says, "You and your friends would be welcome to join us."

"Thank you," he replies, "I'll see if anyone is up for it."

Jay, Seth, Sarah, and Jessica tag along to the dinner. Tim's aunt and uncle reserved a room at a fancy place Tim would have never been caught at. Their son, Tim's cousin Vincent, is dicking around with two other guys when the five of them arrive.

"Hey!" he greets them and hops up out of his chair, "Brian, right?"

Brian nods, unsure what to say. Tim hardly ever even talked about his family, let alone introduced them to Brian. Vincent waves to the chairs across from him and his buddies.

"My mom and dad will be here in a bit," he supplied, "This is Evan and Jeff." He points to the long hair boy and the guy in the beanie respectively.

Brian introduces his friends as they all sit and thanks Vincent and his for coming down.

"It's the least we could do," he shrugs, "I'm mostly bummed Tim and I weren't closer."

Tim's aunt and uncle arrive and the dinner plods along. It's exactly the kind of thing Tim would have hated but it's more for his aunt and uncle than anyone else. Afterwards they linger outside and Tim's aunt goes to her car for something. She returns with a plain black box and Brian almost makes Jay or Seth take it. But he steels himself and holds his boyfriend's remains himself.

"Alright that sucked," Evan says loudly once Vin's parents have left, "We gotta do something else too like--" he turns to Jay suddenly, "--what kinda guy was Tim? Where would he have gone?"

Jay flounders a bit before mentioning the Waffle House they already visited. Evan deflates a bit but Jeff speaks up.

"What are you gonna do with the ashes?"

The group turns to Brian. He looks down at the box in his hands.

"There's...a park," he says coarsely before clearing his throat and continuing, "Rosswood. Tim used to go into the woods there as a kid." He's not sure if it's the perfect place but it's the first that comes to mind. He feels a little bad for wanting to be rid of the ashes as quickly as possible.

"Alright," Vin says, digging his keys out of his pocket, "we'll follow you guys there."

It takes a while for everyone to gather and even longer for them to find a path into the woods. It's dark and every sound makes them jump and shout. Jay and Vin begin loudly telling stupid stories about college and soon the whole group is recounting stupid stunts and laughing as they trek through the dark.

Eventually they reach a stream that none of them want to cross and they all sit down. Sarah and Jessica are perched on Seth and Jay respectively because Evan mentioned some made up fact about nocturnal snakes and bugs. Once the fuss dies down, Brian looks down at the box still in his hands and looks to the stream.

"I think this is it," he says just loud enough for them all to hear.

"Okay," Vincent says after a beat, and points his flashlight to the water. Seth and Jeff follow suit and Brian stares at the illuminated water for a moment. He takes a deep breath.

In the simple black box is a bag. Brian swallows thickly before he takes it out and kneels by the water. Everyone is silent as he rustles the bag open and carefully pours the contents into the trickling water.

And just like that, Tim is gone.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Brian takes advantage of the small sum of money Tim had had left to take a few days off from work and school (it's the kind of luxurious, almost depression indulging expense Tim would have heartily approved of). He lounges around the apartment ordering take out and watching shitty movies with a revolving door of visitors who help him go through Tim's things, which weren't a lot.

Jessica and Sarah take the clothes Brian doesn't want, Jay helps him go through his computer and they laugh at his very poorly hidden porn stash (that Brian absolutely already knew about but it becomes an awkward and hilarious discovery with Jay at his side). Alex comes over and he and Brian go through Tim's journals. It feels like a violation but it kind of makes Brian feel better.

"He was a shit actor," Alex says as he hovers in the doorway to leave, "But he was a good writer. Maybe I should have had him be script supervisor."

Brian notices a strange radio silence from Seth--even Vinny and his buddies were reaching out every now and then since they had returned to Jersey. Brian is back at work before Seth messages him that he wants to come over. He looks a wreck when he arrives at the apartment. He doesn't say anything as Brian lets him in and he seems extremely distracted.

"What's up?" Brian eventually says.

"I--I'm sorry for bumbling in like this."

Seth moves awkwardly to the couch and sits stiffly. Brian sits with him.

"My door is always open, dude. Especially right now."

"Have you wondered why he did it?" Seth asks suddenly.

Brian is taken aback. None of them have really talked about Tim's death. Sure, they're all using past tense and Sarah got sniffly over how she though Tim would be happy to have her re-purpose some of his ratty clothes, but no one had said anything really direct about his death let alone asked the big question: Why?

"Of...course I have..." Brian says quietly.

"Well--I--There's--" Seth shakes his head and rubs at his temples like he's coming down from a headache. He looks at Brian more clearly but like his heart has been ripped in two. "I'm...afraid, Brian."

"What do you mean?" He moves to sit close to Seth who deflates a bit.

"I...think I know why he...why he..."

"Tim was...a troubled kid," Brian supplies. He knew a few details about Tim's past and he knew the others didn't really know. "He had shit that haunted him for ages. It...just got to be too much. This wasn't his first try." He forces the words out. Brian didn't think anyone else would be as fucked up as he was over his boyfriend's death but Seth certainly seemed close.

"I know," Seth says with chilling certainty.

"Wh...what?"

"I know. And I know what hunted him."

Seth blinks, like he's surprised at himself for saying that. He stands quickly and apologizes again. Then he's gone out the door, leaving Brian to wonder what the hell just happened and if it even really did.

'I know what hunted him'

Seth's words follow Brian around for weeks. Hunted, not haunted. Like there was an actual thing that drove Tim to madness, not just a fucked up past and missing childhood. Brian's work falters. His boss tells him to take more time off. His teachers question if he should seek counseling during this period of loss. He doesn't. Instead he let's Seth's words eat him up inside until he feels like he's questioning everything he ever knew about Tim.

Brian texts Jay asking him if he's heard from Seth lately.

Jay replies that Seth has been super distant.

Brian keeps his cool, even though a million alarms are going off in his head, and jokingly asks who has been picking up the proverbial romantic slack.

Jay replies with a pick of him hanging out with Evan and a winky face.

Brian texts Seth next. It's only the third time since their conversation. The first time he asked if he was alright. The second, he said he was just checking in.

This time he asks what was hunting Tim.

He doesn't get a response.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Brian open up!"

Brian jolts away at the pounding on his door. He'd fallen asleep on his coffee table when he had been pouring over Tim's lap top looking for clues to help him figure out what Seth had meant.

"Brian please!"

Alex's voice from the outside his door spurs him to action. He gets up and stumbles over, pulling the door open. Alex looks ruffled and like he's been getting about as much sleep as Brian. He pushes through past Brian without an invitation.

"Oh good you have a computer ready already. You have to see this."

"What are you taking about?"

"There was something stalking Tim."

Brian's blood runs cold.

"What?"

"It was stalking all of us." Alex has already pulled his camera out and hooked it up to Tim's lap top. He beckons Brian to sit next to him and starts a video that labeled with a bunch of question marks when he does.

At first Brian doesn't see it. There's weird distortion in the audio and video but nothing too out of the ordinary. Then its the footage of his and Alex's characters crossing the park. They don't talk as they walk but once Brian is off camera Alex and Sarah (who was filming that day) talk about some guy who is off in the distance. Brian hears himself greet Tim as he arrives and as Sarah focuses in on a black and whit speck in the distance before the footage cuts to the van scene. Again, Brian doesn't see it at first. Then he watches himself lean back and it's there, on some steps in the background. Alex was filming that day and he doesn't acknowledge it in the video but he pauses it when he sees the sick look on Brian's face.

"Are...you okay?" he asks.

Brian shakes his head and stands unsteadily. He crosses to the box of journals that he'd been going through earlier. He thinks he's seen that thing before. He pulls out a plain Moleskin and flips to the last few pages which were covered in pen scribbles that had once seemed like nonsense but now...

He brings the book over to Alex who curses when he sees the crossed out circles and the phrase "No eyes. Always watching."

Brian's phone buzzes and scares the two of them. He fumbles to check it and to his surprise, it's a text from Seth. A single symbol.

A crossed out circle.


End file.
